Synopsis

SpongeBob and Patrick get new slide whistles and are constantly playing them, even outside of Squidward's house, much to the annoyance of Squidward. He becomes increasingly annoyed as they use the slide whistles as sound effects for everything he does. He eventually has enough of it and flees his house. This results in SpongeBob and Patrick following him, thinking that he is finally playing with them and ignoring his cries to leave him alone.

He has finally had enough of it and snaps. He forcefully grabs SpongeBob's slide whistle and uses it against the two. SpongeBob says that he has an equally better ear for music and soon buys one himself.

Squidward then becomes obsessive over it and proceeds to play it around town: first, he scares Dennis out of his wits as Dennis thinks he is being annoyed by ghosts. Soon after, Squidward impersonates a baby and scares Sadie out of her wits, making her see Squidward as a "baby assaulter," resulting in the annoyance of many people.

Soon, the Bikini Bottomites form an angry mob and end on the warpath against Squidward. Squidward manages to take control over a gasoline tanker truck, destroys the Chum Bucket and the Krusty Krab all at once, jumps over a row of boatmobiles through a ring of a fire, and drives away from the mob thinking he has escaped. Squidward says that he does not want to stop, but SpongeBob and Patrick appear and (driving a boat) ask if he is sure he does not want to.

Spongebob and Patrick playing sad music with side whistle

Squidward quickly notices that SpongeBob was trying to warn him that a cliff was ahead but there is nothing Squidward can do now that he's closer to it. SpongeBob and Patrick stop just in time but the gasoline tanker truck keeps going and falls off the cliff, causing it to explode, much to the joy of the town as they see that Squidward is finally stopped. At the hospital, the whistle is stuck in his throat and since no one at the hospital has the technology to remove it and it is the only way he can communicate, so they leave it on Squidward. SpongeBob and Patrick then play around the hospital with the whistles, as the episode comes to an end.

Release

Reception

This episode is number 6 on Tom Kenny's Top 20 on iTunes. His description says:

"SpongeBob and Patrick drive Squidward nuts with their new slide whistles. I'm a sucker for any episode where a tiny thing gets on Squidward's nerves until he snaps. (Roger [sic] Bumpass is great at vocalizing Squidward’s 'losing it.')"

As of February 2, 2019, The Internet Movie Database (IMDB) gives this episode a rating of 4.1/10 based on 394 ratings by users.[1] TV.com users give this episode a rating of 4.9/10 based on 181 votes.[2]

Squidward breaks the fourth wall by hiding himself with his robe from viewers, even though he is alone at home.

After the woman yells "Baby assaulter!," there comes a yelling crowd and someone yells "Assault your own baby!"

This episode reveals the name of the light brown muscular fish with squinting eyes: Frank.

This is the first episode where the Chum Bucket appears without Plankton.

This is the second episode where Patrick is seen driving. The first is "Driven to Tears."

Mr. Krabs makes a cameo in this episode crying after Squidward used the truck to crash into the Krusty Krab. This is his second cameo appearance in the series. The first was a non-speaking cameo in "Gary Takes a Bath."

Ιn the Greek dub, this episode is called "Η σφυρίχτρα," which translates to "The Slide Whistle."

In the Polish dub, this episode is called "Żart z gwizdkiem," which translates to "A Joke with Whistle."

Cultural references

When the police officer is attacked by the worms, he says "I'm supposed to retire this week!" This is a reference to the captain of the RMS Titanic, Edward J. Smith, when he died on the voyage before he was supposed to retire.

The scene with Squidward in the truck falling off the hill and people cheering is a reference to the 1971 movie Duel, where the truck driver falls off the hill and the protagonist starts cheering.

When Squidward falls off the cliff, in an explosion, SpongeBob and Patrick play the funeral march on their slide whistles.

Errors

At the beginning of the episode when Squidward is bathing, the water is black then turns blue.

SpongeBob's missing socks

When Squidward finds SpongeBob and Patrick under the mat, SpongeBob's socks are missing.

When SpongeBob and Patrick are explaining slide whistles to Squidward near the beginning, Patrick looks (very slightly) off.

When SpongeBob and Patrick jump into the paintings, when they fly out, one of the paintings of Squidward's eyes change colors.

Frank says that Squidward lives on Conch Drive when he actually lives on Conch Street.

The driver of the truck spits his coffee near an air vent. Later, the coffee and the vent are gone when Squidward drives it.

When Squidward gets in the driver's seat of the truck and takes the wheel, the wheel goes the opposite way he is turning it.

When Squidward drives through the Krusty Krab, the kitchen, bathrooms, freezer, and Mr. Krabs' office cannot be seen.

When Squidward is first driving the truck, his feet are on the wheel, but his hands are on the slide whistle, so the truck shouldn't be moving.

When SpongeBob and Patrick drive the boat to the cliff, after the explosion, the scene changes and the boat is gone.

They probably got out of the boat.

The Purple Doctorfish says that they do not have the "technology" to remove the slide whistle from Squidward's throat while the whistle is only hanging from his throat by the tip.

Even if the slide whistle was stuck in Squidward's throat, it would be a fairly simple operation. All that would need to be done is cut him open, remove the slide whistle, and stitch him back up afterwards.

Sadie first appears in orange in this episode but is yellow in later scenes.